Scathe used the map to work out where Bulgar and Grom had ended up. They had emerged onto a grassy field near a barn and horses with grapes being picked by workers in nearby fields. The map located them in Toussaint, near Beauclair. He then used the map to create a portal allowing us to travel there and join them. Bulgar appeared to have healed some of the wounds he had suffered on The Wyrms Fist suggesting something strange had happened to him.

There was a knight riding down a nearby road and Bulgar approached him to ask for directions to the nearest tavern. He gave us directions and asked if we wanted to join him in the grapeshot inn for a drink. His name was Sir Gwilen De Longfor.

Scathe teleported Grom back to the Korath desert while myself and Bulgar went to the inn with Gwilen where we enjoyed the excellent local wine. After an hour Scathe returned and joined us. Gwilen was on a quest to kill the giant Golat who had been attacking farmsteads and eating cattle. He said the beasts lair was in a windmill past Bernard winery. The others all over indulged that evening and eventually Gwilen passed out in his chair so we booked rooms for the night. Bulger hooked up with one of the barmaids and I had to listen to awful noises from their room. In the morning she wanted him to go and see her parents but Bulgar declined. Gwilen seemed to have decided he wanted to marry me, though why he should think I would have any interest in marrying a drunk is beyond me.

Bulgar was speaking to the barmaid about Golat. She said he used to be Sir Golat before he was cursed by the lady of the lake who was called nymph. He used a tree trunk as a club and ate horses whole. Gwilen and Bulgar opened a bottle of wine for breakfast. Typical alcoholic men. I remembered 'lady of the lake' was just another name for nymphs and nymphs were water gods, worshiped by humans and an aquatic species called Voganoi. They upheld the laws of chivalry and judged knights on how they upheld the laws.

We decided to go and visit the lady of the lake. Bulgar thought she would be attracted by a performance so I gave an oration about how we had come to seek the way to lift the curse from Golat. As I did so we saw something moving through the water and seven green creatures with tridents emerged. Then a whirlpool formed on the water which turned into a naked female figure. She said she was Vira, lady of the lake. She was unconcerned with what had happened to Golat who had been punished for being unvirtuous. She said she had been bound to the lake by a Drawg called Asmadan. He certainly gets about.

She said she knew Letho was in danger and was a prisoner in the north. She warned us to be careful as soon we would be approached by a deceitful one who would seek to deceive us. Scathe promised to try to destroy Asmadan and free her. She touched his hand, leaving a mark, and said she accepted the promise. She said she could aid in the fight and transformed one of his elementals into a fire elemental. She transformed my bow into what she called a moon bow. She then put a mark on Bulgars sword arm and transformed his silver sword into what she called a moon blade. She also said she had released Golat from his curse.

We rode to the windmill. The place was a mess and there was a woman screaming on the top floor. We rushed up to find a man dressed in rags raping a woman. Bulgar grabbed him and smashed his head against the wall while I freed her. Bulgar then dragged him downstairs, gave him a sword and challenged him to a duel. When Golat attacked, Bulgar ran him through then decapitated him. Certainly an easier outcome than if he had still been a giant, though killing Asmadan to free Vira is likely to prove far more tricky.

We then rode to the ducal palace in Beauclair to collect the reward for Golat. When the duchess recognised Bulgar as a witcher she said she had a dilemma due to the emperors edict to kill witchers but she would let Bulgar live if we took a commission for her. Over lunch we were told of the Beast of Toussaint which had killed three of her knights. The knights were retired and were called Vladamir Smedlen, Ramond DeLac and Louis De La Quois. She was offering 10,000 florins in payment.

Her mage Fringilla would explain the details and one of her knights, Milton De Payrac-Payran, would help. Vladamir had been the owner of Smedlen vinery and had been found propped up against the town pillory. Ramond was found in a gutter with a cap and a pillow and a bed warmer in place of his sword. Louis was killed by a blow to the heart then quartered before his body being thrown in the river. The locals claimed to have seen shadowy figures which attacked and dragged people off while a tall pale figure commanded them from a distance. A survivor claimed the creatures stank of wine.

A messenger arrived with a message for Bulgar. The messenger said the sender was bald. The message said "Meet me at the lake in Caed Myrkvid forest. Letho". Scathe saw the messengers eyes glow briefly as he left so he sent his air elemental to follow him. Milton said he and the three dead knights had formed a special unit who reported directly to the old duke. After much questioning about why Milton was the only knight that was not retired, he admitted the others lacked virtues and had been dismissed by the duchess. Vladamir turned into a miser who was abusive to peasants. Ramond lacked wisdom and Louis lacked virtue.

Milton admitted to being less virtuous in the past but claimed to have taken an oath preventing him from talking about what had happened. I suggested not talking was going against his oath to the duchess but he said they were the same. We examined the corpses in the morgue. The wounds on the bodies appeared to have been caused by claws.

The air elemental returned saying the messenger had disappeared. He went into an in and never came out. Only a non-descript woman came out. Scathe cast a ritual to speak to the spirit of Vladamir. He was attacked from behind and his neck broken. He thought it was Liam or Matilda who owned the Titan and Despardo wineries. He had planted some Arkspore sprouts on their vineyards to poison their crops and assumed they had enacted revenge. He admitted to having been bound by the duchess a long time ago but could say nothing about it. He was not proud of what he did which got him dismissed.

Scathe then summoned the spirit of Ramond and told him he was dead, saying he had only one chance to redeem himself. Raymond said it was the Curse of the black sun which concerned Manier of Mad Etalbold, those born under the eclipse would bring about the end of the world. He had sworn to the duchess he would not talk about what happened 12 years ago but Scathe convinced him that talking was his only chance at salvation.

The legend of the Curse of the black sun was that 60 girls born under the black sun would bring about the return of the goddess Lillett. The duchess's elder sister Seranna had been born during the eclipse so had been locked up for most of her live before the duchess gave the order to banish her. The four knights took her to the border of the dutchy and exiled her but they behaved badly, beating and raping her before leaving her for dead.

We went to the Smedlen winery and spoke to the foreman. The wine was stored in large barrels in the basement. There were splashes of something on the floor that seemed to have been a very strong wine with something else added and it did not come from any barrels in the cellar. The foreman thought it must have come from the creatures which had attacked the same night Vladamir Smedlen was killed and from the taste, that it came from the Renowed winery.

We then went to investigate the Renowed winery. The place looked run down and was shrouded in mist. Bulgar spotted a figure standing at the edge of the woods and went over to him. His name was Detlaf Vanderetlin and he said we were trespassing. Bulgar told him we had come to purchase wine. While they were talking Scathe sensed he was cloaked in an illusion and dispelled it revealing him to be a greater vampire.

The vampire said the wine was made by his beloved Renowed. He thanked us for bringing him Milton and admitted killing the other knights. Clearly his beloved was Seranna and they had been exacting revenge. We convinced Detlaf to give Milton a chance to apologise to Seranna but Milton then said he would rather die than speak to her. Rather stupid really in the circumstances as clearly they were exactly the two options he was facing. Milton then ran and Detlaf went in pursuit. We went to the winery building find Seranna while they were busy.

We called Seranna as we entered the building. As we went into the fermentation room, three lesser vampires burst from the vats and attacked. One of them approached me, sniffed me then turned and attacked Bulgar. Realising Seranna would have a fear of men I told Scathe and Bulgar to get out and they quickly left. I spoke to Seranna and persuaded her that she would be happier leaving with Detlaf and starting a new life together, rather than continuing the vendetta against those who had wronged her, and that her sister the duchess had acted in her best interests by ordering her to be banished rather than keeping her locked in a room. Detlaf sprouted wings and flew away with her.

We returned to the duchess and told her the beast had been dealt with. The duchess paid us and granted us titles, I became lady Dilys of Toussaint. We attended the funeral of Milton and then waited several days for Bulgar to heal his wounds before setting out to find what the letter from 'Letho' was all about.

As we passed through a village called Murky waters on the way to Caed Myrkvid forest we came across two peasants repairing a bridge. They were Harn and his son and said the ghosts in the river tell him to fix the bridge every night but after they spend the day repairing the bridge, the following morning it was broken again and the ghosts had repeated their demands that it be repaired. Harn said the culprits for the bridge being broken were "the bloody Griggs". Horrible little things that kept mocking him. Bulger recognised Griggs as another term for imps, mischievous creatures that often lived in crypts.

Bulgar wanted to help so we waited about to see what happened that evening. About midnight we heard voices then small fat creatures with hats appeared out of the grass heading towards the bridge. They said what was happening at the bridge was between them and Harn. They said the bad Griggs who lived in the crypt had taken their cat harness and if we got it back they would leave Harn alone. They were dismantling the bridge for fun. When asked about payment they said our reward would be in the crypt.

We decided we needed to talk with the ghosts, so we let the Griggs dismantle the bridge and settled down to wait for the ghosts. About an hour after the Griggs left we saw three ghostly figures appear from across the river and head towards Harn's cottage, so we moved to intercept them. They had the form of a woman, a man and a child. Bulgar thought the woman was a noon wraith and the other two were spectres.

As we approached them, the woman screeched and they rushed to attack. Bulgar cast a spell and they backed off. Bulgar asked what they wanted and they said finish the bridge 'so we can be wed'. They were insistent and would clearly not leave Harn alone so Bulgar attacked the woman. I fired at one of the spectres with my moon bow and the spectre exploded and vanished. That bow Vira gave me seems pretty good.

Bulgar destroyed the wraith and the other spectre and shortly after Harn appeared. He said the dreams had stopped. Bulgar challenged him about the wedding and he said that happened a long time ago. His grandfather had shot her on the bridge as they were eloping to the priest on the far side of the river. We rested for the night in his hut before continuing.

We reached the forest and continued towards the lake. On the way we came across a blood trail leading away from the lake so we followed the trail to a mound of earth covered in moss. Bulgar brushed aside the branches and leaves to reveal a pile of human bones, probably from a young boy.

As we investigated we suddenly saw Letho appear from behind a tree. Letho wanted us to go with him to kill Bonhart who he said had returned to Unicorn. Meanwhile, Scathe summoned the spirit of the skeleton. The boy's name was Adrian and he said daddy brought him here. He came from Murky Waters, the village we had stopped at the previous night. He was scared and did not want to remember 'the monster'. Scathe persuaded him to talk and he said his father had said he had a surprise and told him to close his eyes. When he opened them there was a hideous creature which grabbed him and sprouted shoots which pierced him. Bulgar thought it was a Doppler, a creature which could take the form of people.

Scathe then gathered the bones to return them to his village. Bulgar told me that Dopplers could not change form while in contact with silver so I threw a bar of silver at Letho who I thought had been acting strangely. It hit his arm and there was a sizzle. Where the bar had hit the arm appeared to be burned skin instead of armour. Scathe immediately cast a spell, summoning fire snakes to entangle what I had revealed to be the Doppler.

The Doppler had gained the abilities of Letho as well as his appearance, and tried casting a spell on Bulgar then created a magical shield around itself. Bulgar stepped up to it and shattered its arm with a blow from his sword as Scathe cast more spells at it. It cast spells back at Bulgar, stunning him, so I kicked Bulgar back to awareness and hit the Doppler with an arrow from my moon bow, covering it with ice.

The Doppler cast another spell on Bulgar, taking control of his mind and commanded him to kill myself and Scathe. Bulgar immediately turned and attacked us, hitting us both. The Doppler then broke free from the fire shakes and fled. I hit it with several arrows as it ran and killed it. Bulgar recovered his wits and harvested some components from its body. He also found a note saying "Payment received, hope you enjoy the boy. Lead then to the arena in unicorn where the trap will be set. LB".

We returned the bones to Murky waters and Scathe visited a witch there to buy some components. She told his fortune. "He sought Asmadan who hides behind 2 forms, but can only be killed permanently where he lives. He will ask us to join him. If we agree we will gain great power but be his thralls, and he will inflict great atrocities on the world".

I also had my fortune told. "I came from a noble family down south but had forsaken my birth right to branch out. There was one who loves me and wishes to marry me but I am reticent. Another who took my eye, Vodra, I would meet soon. He works with the one I seek in Unicorn. If I go to Unicorn I will fall into a devious trap from which I will not escape. Sometimes revenge must be let go." Bulgar did not have his fortune told, he just spent the night with her.

In the morning Scathe teleported us outside Unicorn. I disguised myself and Scathe pulled up his hood so we would not be recognised in the town. Bulgar with his antlers and strange eyes stood out so we let him go on his own as bait, following discretely. I asked someone in an inn about Bonhart and was told he was in the arena with another witcher. As we scouted the arena, Bulgar was approached by Vodra and two other men. Vodra said he had been sent by Bonhart who wished to see Bulgar fight in the arena. If Bulgar won he would let Letho go. Scathe walked up behind him to cast a spell but was spotted by Vodra. As Vodra turned and spoke to Scathe, Bulgar attacked.

Vodra was very quick and dodged Bulgars attacks. Scathe created illusionary images of himself and cast a spell on Vodra which had no effect. Vodra struck a vicious blow to Bulgar, ripping into his stomach. I fired on the minion attacking Scathe, seriously injuring him as Scathe severed Vodra's left leg from his body, killing him. Good riddance to that treacherous scumbag.

The other two immediately surrendered. They said that Bonharts offer was that if we survived three waves in the arena he would free Letho. Bulgar said we would return in ten days. Scathe started arguing with one of them then cast a spell creating another set of illusionary images of himself before summoning a spike of earth from the ground which the man he was arguing with dodged away from butBulgar then stepped up and killed him. The last of them was sent back to Bonhart with the message and we quickly left the town. Vodras head was left on a spike outside.

Shortly afterwards the ring Asmadan had given Bulgar began to glow. A beam of light shot out and the image of Regan appeared speaking with Asmadan's voice. He had a proposal and wanted us to stop trying to kill him, instead joining him. He said he heard everything we ever said through the ring. I countered that if he freed the lady in the lake we would not molest him until the year and a day was up. After some discussion, Asmadan agreed. He also offered to take Scathe to the hidden valley of the elves when he was ready. Asmadan asked if Bulgar had enjoyed the minion he had sent and how were the scratches? Bulgar admitted the witch in Murky waters had scratched him. We teleported to her cave but found no sign of her.

While Bulgar recovered, Sile appeared through a gateway. I have no idea how she is able to find us so easily when it suits her. She had a job for us in the Skellige isles. The current Jarl needed a witcher to slay a dragon there. She said the scratches on Bulgar had been inflicted by a succubus who was now draining his life force. She agreed to get Bulgar cured and would help rescue Letho if we then helped deal with the dragon.

We waited ten days for Bulgar to recover from the wounds Vodra had inflicted. During that time we heard the news that Redania had declared war on Kaedwen and was continuing to attack Temeria. Clearly Asmadan was busy. When we were ready Sile created a portal through which we passed back to Unicorn. Sile then went into a tavern to seduce one of the officers and brought him back outside where Bulgar cast a spell and took control of his mind. He told us that Letho was chained up next to the frightener in the cells under the arena, was wearing Deuterium handcuffs and had been force fed fizztech.

Sile then created a portal to the cells under the arena where the prisoners and creatures were kept. Letho was there chained in a cage. There were two guards and Bulgar killed one but the other screamed 'intruders' and ran off. Two more guards came running at the shout and Sile hit one with a bolt of lightning, setting him on fire, then Bulgar killed them both.

I quickly picked the locks on Lethos cage as another nine guards came running. Scathe took an arrow to the chest in their first volley but managed to throw a bomb back, killing two of them. Sile killed another with a ball of fire which was attacking Bulgar and Scathe hit the remaining archers with an explosive arrow, seriously injuring them. Finally Bulgar killed the rest of the guards attacking him as I continued working to unlock Lethos manacles.

Another four guards came running up as Sile was hit by an arrow and retreated back through the portal but Scathe then killed the remaining archers with another explosive arrow. I finally freed Letho from the manacles and started dragging him back to the portal. Scathe fled through the portal after Sile and Bulgar knocked the remaining guards prone then broke off from fighting them to help get Letho through the portal.